MTA awards "final" Second Ave. Subway contract

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Thursday, June 13, 2013, that it had awarded a contract for the "station finishes, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, ancillary buildings and entrances for the 86th Street Station of the Second Avenue Subway."

MTA said it was the "10th and final contract" let for Phase 1 of the long-planned Second Avenue Subway, talked about as an entity despite its relative non-existence for decades.

The contract, valued at $208.4 million was awarded to the 86th Street Constructors Joint Venture, a joint venture of Schiavone Construction Co. LLC and John P. Picone, Inc.

"We've reached the final mile marker for this legendary project and can now see the finish line for Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway. This is a great milestone for the MTA and for all New Yorkers," said Michael Horodniceanu, president of MTA Capital Construction.

The $4.45 billion project to extend the Q Line along Second Avenue will have new stations at 72nd Street, 86th Street, and 96th Street on Manhattan's East Side, and is expected to open for service in December 2016.

Four phases of the Second Avenue Subway Line are planned, designed to stretch from East Harlem to downtown Manhattan, but funding for the three subsequent phases is not in place.

Existing tunnel segments north of 96th Street, excavated during the 1970s, could aid MTA’s political efforts to extend the line north to 125th Street. One of the earlier segments, e between 99th and 105th streets, will be used as tail tracks for Phase 1 revenue service, one MTA source affirms.